Sitka National Historic Park
Sitka National Historic Park
Located on Baranof Island on Alaska’s southeastern panhandle
Sitka National Historical Park is a fascinating place to take your next family adventure vacation. On this small island, you will find exciting Russian and Native Alaskan history as well as hiking, magnificent wildlife viewing, excellent bird watching opportunities, Alaska salmon fishing, saltwater and freshwater fishing all in a mild climate for Alaska. Check below for great Sitka National Historical Park information.
Uniqueness
Alaska’s oldest federally designated park was established in 1910 to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka. All that remains of this last major conflict between Europeans and Alaska Natives is the site of the Tlingit Fort and battlefield, located within this scenic 113 acre park in a temperate rain forest.
Southeast Alaska totem poles and a temperate rain forest setting combine to provide spectacular scenery along the park’s coastal trail. The trail circles back along Indian River to the visitor center. Another loop trail continues across the Indian River footbridge past the Memorial to the Russian Midshipmen who died in the Battle of Sitka. The park’s story continues at the Russian Bishop’s House, one of the last surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America. This original 1843 log structure conveys the legacy of Russian America through exhibits, refurbished Bishop’s living quarters and lavish icons in the Chapel of the Annunciation.
Today the park is utilized by a myriad of people. The local public in Sitka uses the park for recreational and educational purposes. This includes walking, jogging, viewing wildlife, picnicking, school field trips, and enjoying year-round interpretive walks, talks, and demonstrations. Many locals feel a strong sense of ownership toward the park. The native community considers the park important for many of the following additional uses: specific ceremonial and educational activities for Tlingit cultural conservation, help with curatorial needs upon the expected return of many cultural artifacts from various museums around the country as a result of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, traditional use studies, and support for the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center activities. Traditional Tlingit Use of Sitka National Historical Park (Thorton 1998), emphasizes that, despite the pressures of contact, Sitka Tlingits have continued to maintain their physical, social, symbolic, and spiritual ties to Indian River.
Operating hours and seasons for the park are: mid-May through September 30- the visitor center is open daily, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the Russian Bishop’s House is open daily, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. October through Mid-May, the visitor center is open Monday through Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the Russian Bishop’s House is open by appointment only. The visitor center contains ethnographic exhibits and houses the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center, where visitors can watch Native artists at work. The Visitor Center is wheelchair accessible, and a wheelchair is available for public use. The gravel-based, wood chip-covered trails in the park are accessible with many types of wheelchairs.
The historic Russian Bishop’s House is not wheelchair accessible. An audiovisual presentation is available to those unable to tour the house.
Sitka National Historical Park, Alaska’s oldest federally designated park was established as a federal park in 1890. It was designated as a park by President Benjamin Harrison on June 21. The park has been known officially be several different names, including Sitka Park, Government Park, Indian River Park, Sitka National Monument, and Sitka National Historical Park. It is just as often referred to by its unofficial names, Lovers’ Lane or Totem Park. It became a national monument in 1910 to commemorate the Battle of Sitka fought between the Tlingits and the Russians. All that remains of this last major conflict between Europeans and natives of the Northwest Coast is the site of a Kiks.ádi Fort. The surroundings are largely unchanged, and with a little imagination one can conjure up scenes of the battle. In 1972, the monument’s name was changed to Sitka National Historical Park and its boundaries expanded to include the Russian Bishop’s House, a National Historic Landmark. Acquisition of the house brought more emphasis to the Russian American focus of the park and involved the park in a lengthy restoration project.
The Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center (SEAICC) was established in 1969 to impart the cultural values of Southeast Alaska Native Culture to students and visitors. The center achieves this goal by providing a place for local Sitka Tlingits to teach themselves about their own culture, while also helping Park visitors understand the Native people whose history is part of the Park story. Although it is housed in the Park visitor center, SEAICC is an independent, non-profit Native organization. SEAICC offers both students and visitors the opportunity to learn about Northwest Coast native art. Park visitors can view artists working and can talk to them about their craft and culture. In addition, SEAICC offers courses in traditional Tlingit art such as beadwork, weaving, bentwood box making, and box drum making.
Learn more about Sitka National Historical Park by participating in a Ranger-led activity. During the summer season, park rangers and volunteers present a number of interpretive programs each day. Battle Walk is a ranger-led walk to the battle grounds and former fort site to learn about this important event. Carved History Walk lets you learn the stories and legends of the totem poles in the park. The Russian Bishop’s House Tour represents a little known chapter in American history. One of only four Russian period buildings left in North America, the Russian Bishop’s House stands as a lasting legacy of the time when the Tsar ruled Alaska. Sitka National Historical Park also offers visitors a chance to experience the natural world. You can walk in a temperate rain forest under towering trees, observe migrating salmon, explore the intertidal zone, and study wildlife. Park rangers present a variety of naturalist programs to assist visitors in their understanding of the park’s natural environment.
Alaska’s District Governor John G. Brady brought a collection of totem poles to Sitka in 1905. These histories carved in cedar were rounded up from villages throughout southeastern Alaska. None of the originals came from Sitka, though this art form is very much a part of Tlingit tradition. Many poles exhibited along the park’s two miles of wooded pathways are copies of deteriorating originals now in storage.
The totem poles in the park are exhibited along a scenic coastal trail. Traditionally, the totems would not have been arranged in such a neat line. Imagine that you are an explorer in the early 19th century, sailing through southeast Alaska. As you come around a point, a native village comes into view. Close by the water are numerous single story rectangular houses and towering above the houses, at the corners and in front of them, are carved poles with striking designs and colors. With their striking designs and colors, totem poles are bold statements of the identities and stories of the people who carved them. A totem pole generally served one of four purposes: Crest poles give the ancestry of a particular family, History poles record the history of a clan, Legend poles illustrate folklore or real life experiences, and Memorial poles commemorate a particular individual.
Baranof Island is one of the most rugged of all the islands in southeast Alaska, with many high peaks and slopes. The outer coast is dotted with numerous small islands. The northern part of the island exhibits soil layers of volcanic ash from past eruptions of Mt. Edgecumbe. The park is located at the mouth of Indian River on Baranof Island. Indian River drains the post-glaciated valley encompassing approximately 7,800 acres, outlined by Mount Verstovia, Arrowhead Peak, the Sisters, and Gavan Hill. The park coastline is adjacent to Crescent and Jamestown Bays.
Pink and chum salmon enter the intertidal and lower floodplain channel segments of the Indian River to spawn from mid-July through September. Coho salmon, chinook salmon, and steelhead trout migrate upstream but have not been observed spawning in the park. The primary rearing and spawning habitat for coho salmon, chinook salmon, and steelhead trout is above the Sheldon Jackson College diversion dam. A fish pass along the dam allows upstream access for these species under certain flow conditions. Anadromous Dolly Varden enter the river in August, migrating upriver through the park to spawn farther upstream. Non-anadromous resident fish in the river include rainbow trout, coast range sculpin, and Dolly Varden. Marine species of fish common to the marine waters of Sitka also inhabit the intertidal and estuarine areas of the park.
The park’s intertidal and shoreline areas support a variety of migratory waterfowl and shore birds during spring and fall. Resident birds including common mergansers, mallards, spotted sandpipers, and great blue herons use the estuary, river, and tidal flats for foraging and protection. Sea birds such as common murres, scoters, harlequin ducks, scaup, buffleheads, and long-tailed ducks commonly use the park waters, particularly in winter. Gulls, crows, and ravens scavenge along the tidal flats and the river. Bald eagles are common in the general area, especially during the spring herring spawn and fall salmon runs, when eagles feed on fish carcasses in the river and adjacent tidal flats. At least one bald eagle nest is present in the park. Many passerine birds use the park for breeding, a wintering ground, or a migratory stopover including pine siskins, savanna sparrows, varied, hermit, and Swainson’s thrushes, robins, Townsend’s warblers, ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, kingfishers, dippers, and winter wrens.
Mammal species such as shrews, mice, voles, red tree squirrels, mink, and river otters also inhabit the park. Brown bears occupy the Indian River drainage and occasionally enter the park, often at the beginning of the salmon runs. Sitka black-tail deer also occasionally enter and forage in the park but are discouraged from doing so because of the development and human activity around the park. The endangered humpback whale and the threatened Steller sea lion are commonly sighted in marine waters around Sitka.
The vegetation in Sitka National Historical Park is a coastal temperate rainforest typical of southeast Alaska. Western hemlock closed-canopy forest type is found on all the stable landforms, including most of the park. Blueberry and devil’s club dominate the shrub layer. Occasional Sitka spruce is found in the over-story, frequently taller than the hemlocks. Much of the park is second-growth hemlock (100-125 years in age) that shows an over-story of relatively uniform height. In areas where the canopy has been opened through blow down of trees, there is a well-developed shrub under-story. Under the denser canopies there are fewer shrubs and limited forbs and ferns. The largest trees are in the forest in the northeast corner of the park. This forest exhibits old-growth characteristics such as multiple canopy layers, trees of varying diameters, snags (dead standing trees), and woody debris. One Sitka spruce is close to 500 years of age. Old cut stumps in this area suggest that selective logging may have been practiced here in the past.
Sitka experiences a temperate marine climate, characterized by heavy precipitation and a small temperature range between seasons. Most of the 96.6 inches average annual precipitation in Sitka occurs as rain. The wettest months of the year are September through November, with October receiving an average of 14.8 inches. Summer temperatures range from high 50′s to high 60′s F. Winter is rainy and snowy with temperatures from the high teens to the 40′s F. Rain gear and layered clothing are recommended year-round. Also if you are going to hike the trails, bring good hiking or walking shoes
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Please do not feed or harass the wildlife. There are a few bears occasionally in the park. See Wildlife Precautions page for animal encounter tips.
There is an interpretive fee for exhibits in the Visitor Center of $4.00 for 5 days. No fee for children under 13 years old. Fees will be charged May 8 – late September 2005; fees are not charged during the winter season.
Interpretive fee for tours and exhibits in the Russian Bishop’s House are $4.00 for 5 days. No fee for children under 13 years old. Fees will be charged May 8 – late September 2005; fees are not charged during the winter season.
A Family Pass is $15.00 annual fee and grants entry to both the Visitor Center and Russian Bishop’s House for one year from the month of purchase.
No roads reach Sitka from the mainland; the city is accessible only by air or sea. Commercial airlines fly directly from Seattle, Juneau and Anchorage. Sitka is also a port of call for ferries on the Alaska Marine Highway System.
Once in Sitka, visitors without cars can travel by foot, taxi, tour bus, or bicycle. The downtown area is not very large; most points of interest are within walking distance of each other. The Park is located at the south end of Lincoln Street, approximately one-fourth mile from downtown Sitka. The Visitor Center and Russian Bishop’s House are located about a ten minute walk apart in this essentially urban park.
Sitka National Historical Park, 103 Monastery Street, Sitka, AK 99835
Visitor Center (907) 747-0110
Business Office (907) 747-6281
Fax (907) 747-5938
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